10/17/2016

I know that last week I said Episode 2 of Ash
vs Evil Dead was surely the most gleefully graphic display of carnage
that could ever even possibly be put on TV. I spoke too soon. Episode 3, “Last
Call,” opens with a man’s genitals being eaten off a demon.

You never let me down, Ash vs Evil Dead.

The episode begins with Ash’s car, the iconic Evil
Dead Delta, and the partying teens inside who stole it. Little do they
know, the elusive Necronomicon is rolling around in the backseat, ready to
possess whoever reads from it. Of course, one girl reads it, becomes a demon,
eats the guy’s man-parts, and now we’re caught up.

The book then takes control of Ash’s car, trapping one of
the teens, who we learn is the daughter of the police officer Ash has been at
odds with this season. The daughter’s in the driver’s seat as the car Christine-style
plows through the abandoned parking lot, violently murdering all of her
remaining friends.

As a die-hard fan of the Evil Dead franchise, I
loved seeing the car get in on the mayhem. That was about the last thing I
expected to see, and they knew it. The series is constantly turning out
surprises, and I love it for that.

The rest of the episode shifts the action back and forth
between the car-on-teen murders and Shemp’s, a local bar Ash used to hang out
at in his days before the cabin incident.
He’s dragged Kelly, Pablo, and Ruby there in order to plan out how to
get his beloved car/world ending book back. We’re introduced to Ted Raimi’s
character, a bartender he used to be friends with. Together they created the
most popular and psychotropic cocktail in Elk Grove Michigan (a drink with a
name far too vulgar to publish here) which is still just as popular as ever with
the young people of the town. The group then develops a plan – make a huge
batch of the drink and serve it at a crazy party hosted at the bar that night,
in the hopes of attracting the teens who stole the car.

The plan kicks off, and manages to pull in a lot of young
partiers to Shemp’s. Though to Ash’s dismay, none of them stole his car.

Dramatic irony alert! We know the thieves are being killed!

Further souring the night’s
mood is the arrival of Lee Majors’ character Brock Williams, Ash’s father who
insists on staying at his local bar regardless of what his estranged son has
planned for the evening. The two then spend a large portion of the episode one-upping
each other, drinking more, picking up women, and ultimately riding a mechanical
bull in a particularly well shot scene. The whole episode is actually
incredibly well shot, on the topic. The visual look of this episode is best it’s
been in a long time. A lot of the fun, swoopy camera work we’ve come to love
from Evil
Dead.

Kelly and Pablo have a much more subdued subplot than they’re
usually given. They spend most of the episode discussing how lost they feel
after everything they’ve lived through so far. Ruby, meanwhile, has a couple
fun scenes opposite Brock, eventually giving up on both Williams men, heading
out on her own. Brock then moves his focus onto another woman, who – surprise-
is a Deadite. In this week’s blood soaked demon battle, Ash chainsaws the
possessed woman into a toilet, saving his father in the process.

Brock and Ash then share a heartfelt moment, honestly
discussing their issues and making up with each other. Understanding the truth
of the demonic possessions, Brock forgives Ash for the killing of his sister
Cheryl in the cabin in the first movie. Of course, the people at Ash’s party didn’t
witness any of the possession, and therefore run away from “Ashy Slashy” and
the bloody severed head he’s holding.

In an attempt to reason with the crowd that his son his a
hero, Brock rushes out into the streets after them… where he is promptly hit by
Ash’s possessed car and dies.